Webber finishes sixth in San Marino Grand Prix

With Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg starting the race from tenth and thirteenth grid positions the drivers would move away from the grid for their parade lap for the 62 lap San Marino Grand Prix. On the parade lap Button would be very aggressive in trying to get  heat into his Michelin tyres. Michael Schumacher would take up his pole position spot and with the rest of the grid formed up the race would get under way with Button right behind. Massa would pass Rubens for third. He would be joined by Alonso putting Rubens in fifth.

But the safety car would come out as Albers was to roll his car ending upside down in the gravel. He would have a coming together with the Aguri of Ide at Minerali. Ide would pit with a problem with his left front suspension. He would return to the race. Albers  was able to get out of his car uninjured. Albers would comment on television: "The Super Aguri's are missing some speed and so they attack really hard on the first lap and that's the consequence... They break us down taking too much risk, but we saw how strong a F1 is today."

The safety car would come in and Michael would still be leading the race from Button and Massa. Ide would be lapped by the leaders. Mark was in ninth after having passed the McLaren of Raikkonen. Nico was down in thirteenth. Ide would return to the pits.  Lap four and Michael's lead was 1.2 seconds over Button. Ralf was in sixth followed by Montoya and Trulli. Trulli would pit on lap six while Liuzzi was to spin his car in the chicane but was able to continue down in eighteenth. Lap six and Michael's lead was out to 1.8 seconds. Rubens was now 3.6 seconds behind fourth placed Alonso.

Lap eight and Michael would set a fastest lap, 1m:25.742. Kimi was just 0.8 behind Mark and challenging for eighth. Trulli would retire his car in his garage. Reports have him involved in Liuzzi's spin damaging the Toyota's suspension. Trulli would comment: "The steering column broke and then I hit Liuzzi". Michael was now 2.3 seconds ahead of Button.

Lap eleven and a new fastest lap for Michael, 1m:25.329. He was now  2.8 seconds ahead of Button. Mark was still in eighth while Nico was down in twelfth. Ide would return to the race on lap thirteen. Kimi was still attacking Mark but the pair were some twenty seconds behind the leaders. Montoya was attacking Ralf for sixth place. Lap fourteen and Michael again went faster, 1m:25.218, and his lead was now out to 3.4 seconds. Rubens would be the first to pit on lap fifteen. It was a long stop, fifteen seconds. The next lap and  Jenson would pit from second. Both the Honda cars were light on fuel. Jenson's stop was very quick compared to Rubens. Button would have problems with his right rear tyre which delayed his departure. Lap seventeen and Ralf would pit from fourth.

Mark was now in fifth while Nico was in eleventh. Mark was 3.4 seconds behind Montoya. Lap eighteen and Michael sets another fastest lap, 1m:25.179. Alonso was right behind Massa looking to take second place. Massa was certainly helping Michael by delaying the Renault. Lap twenty and Massa would pit. Michael was pushing hard, 1m:24.624, while he extended his lead over Alonso. Lap twenty one and Michael would pit from the lead.

It would be a quick stop for Michael returning in second place. Alonso was just 7.3 seconds ahead of the Ferrari. Mark was now in fourth and Nico still in eleventh. Neither of the WilliamsF1 drivers had yet to make their first stops. Lap twenty three and Kimi pitted from fifth. Both Mark and Montoya would pit from fourth and third on lap twenty four. Montoya would come out still ahead of Mark. Alonso was pushing setting a new fastest lap, 1m:24.569. Despite this Fernando would lose his lead at his first stop on lap twenty six. But Alonso would come out in second ahead of Button. Massa was in fourth followed by Montoya, Villeneuve and Mark. Fisichella was in eighth followed by Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher.

Lap twenty seven and Michael's lead was out to 9.8 seconds over Alonso. Lap twenty eight and Villeneuve, Nico, and Coulthard would all pit. Montoya was just 0.7 behind fourth placed Massa. At this stage of the race Alonso was running a lot quicker than Michael. Lap twenty nine and Heidfeld would pit from eleventh. The next lap and Fisichella would pit from seventh. Team-mate Alonso was closing in on to Michael. Michael's lead was now 7.2 seconds on lap twenty nine. Michael's lap time was 1m:27.039 compared to a 1m:25.449 for Alonso on lap thirty. It looked like both Ferrari's were using used Bridgestone tyres for this part of the race and were slowing them down.

Button would pit on lap thirty two but would leave his pit while the fuel hose was still attached. He would get away but it had cost him time. This was a mistake on the part of the lollipop man. Montoya was just 0.8 behind Massa and looking to pass the Ferrari. Ralf would pit from seventh n lap thirty three. Michael's lead was now just 3.1 seconds over Alonso. Lap thirty three and Alonso was now just 2.4 seconds behind Michael. The next lap and it would be just 0.4 seconds. Michael was bound to lose his lead. Rubens would pit from ninth on lap thirty five. For the Brazilian it was a race that has gone very poorly.  Lap thirty five and Fernando was just 0.3 behind the Ferrari with Michael still struggling.

Alonso was trying to find a way past Michael. The Renault was right  behind the Ferrari. Mark was running in fifth 10.1 seconds behind Montoya. Nico was in tenth. Michael continued to defend his position so much so that the lap times of both Michael and Alonso had dropped considerably. Lap thirty seven and Michael's lap was a 1m:28.065. Massa was slowing closing in onto the leading pair.

Lap forty and Michael still held his position. but Massa was now 13.2 seconds behind the Renault. Mark was also closing in onto fourth placed Montoya. Lap forty two and both Alonso and Massa would pit. They were joined by seventeenth placed Klien. Alonso would come out in front of Montoya retaining second. Lap forty three and both Michael and Mark would pit. Michael would again take on used front tyres. Klien retired his Red Bull.

Montoya was leading the race from Michael with Alonso right behind the Ferrari. Kimi was now in fourth and Massa fifth. Lap forty five and Montoya pits from the lead. Mark was down in eighth and Nico tenth. Button would make a third stop on the same lap losing sixth. Lap forty five and Michael's lead was now just 0.5 seconds over Alonso. Kimi was now in third but yet to make his stop. The fastest driver was Ralf Schumacher, 1m:25.316, on lap forty five. But Ralf would pit the next lap from seventh. He was joined by eleventh placed Coulthard. Lap forty eight and Kimi would pit. Renault's Denis Chevrier has told French TV that Alonso has the option to use more revs if he needs them.

Alonso would run wide at Rivazza but was able to keep going. Fisichella would pit from fifth on lap forty nine. The next lap and Nico and Villeneuve would pit from tenth and eleventh. Alonso was just 0.3 behind Michael. with Montoya in third followed by Massa, Raikkonen, and Mark. Mark was some 15 seconds behind the Mclaren so it would be unlikely that he would be able to move up a place.

Lap fifty one and Kimi was just 0.4 behind fourth placed Massa. Lap fifty three and Heidfeld would pit from twelfth. Coulthard had retired his Red Bull with drive shaft failure joining Klien. With ten laps remaining Michael was till leading from Alonso. But would Fernando take a risk in challenging Michael for the lead? Mark continued to run in sixth while Nico was in eleventh.

Lap fifty six and Michael's lead was 0.4 while Kimi was all over the second Ferrari of Massa looking to take fourth place. As the laps counted down Michael would maintain his lead over Alonso. Team-mate Fisichella was challenging seventh placed Button. With just five laps remaining Alonso may have settled for second placed and extending his championship points lead.

But the Spaniard would make a mistake at the Villeneuve chicane and Michael was able to extend his lead to now be 2.2 seconds on lap fifty nine. Lap sixty and Fernando's car was looking very nervous making Michael's lead now look very comfortable. The final two laps would see Michael maintain his lead and he would cross the line to win the San Marino Grand Prix in front of thousands of Ferrari fans. Alonso was second followed by Montoya, Massa, Raikkonen, Webber, Button and eighth place Fisichella. Nico would finish out of the points in eleventh.

For the WilliamsF1 team it was a good result in that firstly both cars made it to the finish and we did not have the sight of an FW28 retiring. Also Mark was able to come away with some points, even if only for sixth place.